Newcomers
by Didd23
Summary: Humanity (as usual) collapses before it bounces back and becomes even stronger, this is a story of humanity's introduction, and yes, the eventual war with the Reapers.
1. Chapter 1

This story is not according to canon.

Newcomers Ch. 1

2083 BPC (Before Planetary Colonization): Humanity sees that its fears of overcrowding and resource shortages are coming true with published census data showing that Earth's population and resource consumption have quadrupled in the past decade.

2087 BPC: People from over-crowded countries immigrate to countries such the U.S and Russia which still have plenty of resources and open land. This mass migration causes human rights groups and groups wishing to control the flow of immigrants to clash in the political arena.

2093 BPC: Government deadlock allows for billions of immigrants to enter uncrowded countries quickly raising their populations. The sudden influx of people causes cities and towns to exponentially grow, and rapidly bury much agricultural land under concrete and asphalt. Seeing this and fearing the loss of so much agricultural land will cause a food shortage, several countries seal and heavily guard their borders against all immigrants despite large protests from human rights groups.

2094 BPC: Humanity's population continues to grow breaking past all census estimates, forcing the U.N to draft a birth control bill that only allows for one child to be born to each family, this law is heavily enforced by all U.N member nations. All families that wish to, and are capable of raising a child yet do not have one, are given orphans in order to prevent any more humans from being born. This receives calls of outrage from many religious and human rights groups.

2100 BPC: Religious and human rights groups are further outraged when the U.N amends the original birth control law allowing for countries to instill year-long birthing bans. Though nobody takes it seriously, many are shocked when several humanist countries instill birthing bans shortly after the amendment is passed.

2150 BPC: Despite several attempts to preserve Earth's resources; food, fuel, medicine, and building materials continue to rapidly decline forcing the U.N Science Committee to focus on interplanetary colonization; hoping that an agricultural colony could be started on Mars.

2170 BPC: Despite several setbacks ranging from, lack of resources, to attacks on scientists and construction workers, several colonization ships are built. The ships are well over a kilometer long and outfitted with tools and equipment that are far ahead of their time; As well as many of the world's the best botanists and farmers, along with the healthiest livestock that could be found and expert veterinarians. When revealed, governments around the world hoped that the colony ships would create hope and unity among the populations. However, any hope that is created is quickly dashed as the colonization ships are destroyed via suicide bombers from an unknown terrorist group placed amongst the crews of the ships.

2171 BPC: The destruction of the colonization ships causes world leaders to panic and invade neighboring countries for their resources while simultaneously being invaded by other countries. Alliances are nullified as every country fights for their own. The fighting is brutal and all war conventions and weapons bans are ignored by commanders and leaders, causing millions to die. Half a year later, the proverbial shit hits the fan, as nations all over the world unleash their nuclear arsenals upon each other devastating much of the surface and the forces that fight upon it.

For three weeks the planet is scorched by nuclear fire, and radiation permeates the biosphere and any surviving biological life especially trees. Many species of animals and plants that survived the fires are unable to withstand the radiation and go extinct. Meanwhile, all surviving humans are forced underground to avoid the fires and radiation. The conditions are horrible and many die from starvation, thirst, and disease. Once the nuclear fires abate, soldiers and civilians alike scour devastated cities salvaging whatever they can, and attempt to eke out a life.

2215 BPC: After several decades of rebuilding and stabilization for both humanity and nature, countries and governments are once again formed, though the borders are radically different from the previous ones. Wanting to see who survived and possibly avoid another war, countries all over the world send several explorers, scouts, and diplomats to other countries using maps of the old world as their guide.

2220 BPC: Diplomats and mediators are consolidated onto one of the few remaining aircraft carriers and are taken to an obscure point in the Pacific Ocean in order avoid being interrupted by anything save nature. The assembly of diplomats generally agree that unification is the only way to avoid the mistakes of the past, but there is disagreement on the structure of the new government.

After several months of debate it is decided that the new world government will be made up of a representative senate, a panel of judges, and a council of generals. The three branches will have each have a figure head to represent their branches, though the Grand General is the only one whose position is one of leadership. Each have checks and balances that cannot be amended unless in time of extreme need, and when the situation has been taken care of, the powers granted at the time of the situation will be rescinded. It is decided that under the newly formed United Terra Government (UTG), that all pre-existing countries will retain their sovereignty, but are ultimately loyal to the UTG. Contingencies are also put in place to ensure that all members of the newly formed government are consistently watched by anonymous individuals only known as Watchers who will take appropriate steps to ensure that corruption doesn't permeate the government. Concern is voiced about the Watchers, but is somewhat allayed when it is ensured that all Watchers will monitored by their fellow Watchers.

2222 BPC: The UTG's control and authority are quickly implemented and accepted with only a few groups resisting, but those are quickly brought to heel. This is marked as the Age of Recovery.

2240 BPC: Humanity's population begins to noticeably grow, causing settlements to grow as well. Remembering what originally caused the destruction of the past, the UTG decides to expand all underground bunkers, and fallout shelters, turning them into cities.

2271 BPC: Recycling all possible material in the ruined cities, the first subterranean cities are completed. Humanity begins its attempts in recovering and rediscovering knowledge from the past. In its search for information, several nuclear silos and weapons labs are discovered, many in the UTG order the silos and labs to be destroyed, but the Council of Generals order otherwise, citing that since the silos and labs were used for war, they fall under the Council of Generals' authority, however the generals allow most of the labs to be converted into medical, and technology labs.

2272 BPC: Various vehicles are restored and outfitted with experimental fuel cell technology developed during the war. When distributed among surface communities, it's found that heavier vehicles such as trucks and military vehicles are preferred due to their durability and ability to traverse various terrains. Nuclear power is also rediscovered and construction the construction of nuclear power plants begins in subterranean cities.

2273 BPC: Scientists discover that Earth's oxygen is laced with radiation, and that all current life has adapted to depend on the new oxygen. Later tests show that any life form on Earth would slowly die over time if they breathed air that does not contain radiation.

2275 BPC: Aerospace technology and schematics recovered. Research on Arial vehicles begins.

2280 BPC: Humanity makes several leaps in recovering medical and engineering knowledge. Schematics for advanced electromagnets that would allow aircraft to fly without the use of jet propulsion is discovered. The magnets would be powerful enough to switch between the north and south polarization of the Earth's magnetic field allowing the aircraft to remain in the air. However the project is eventually abandoned, when it is discovered that an advanced computer would be needed to regulate the magnetic fields.

2300 BPC: The turn of the century is marked by the announcement that the first advanced computer has been brought back online, soon after words computers and servers found in research labs, universities, and military bases are also brought online, ushering in the second Computer Age. Previous computers that were discovered and restored, were found to only be able to be used for record keeping and did not contain the processing power as the advanced computers that were discovered.

2305 BPC: After sifting through the computers found in 2300, scientists discover that several countries were researching an advanced computer intelligence, often called an Artificial Intelligence.

2310 BPC: An earth quake strikes the subterranean city of New San Francisco causing several sections to collapse, killing hundreds. Blueprints for all subterranean cities are revised and all subterranean cities are modified as best as possible, though cities under construction will receive more modifications, as they are still under construction.

2312 BPC: A partially constructed AI is found in one of the computers. When activated, the AI surprises scientists when it asks about the previous research team, and expresses regret when it learns that its original creators died over one-hundred years prior. Scientists call the newly discovered AI Neusus. Production of other AIs begins, with the goal of having at least one AI in every single subterranean city.

2315 BPC: The internet is re-established.

2316 BPC: While exploring various records Neusus comes across the plans for the electromagnetic propelled aircraft. Neusus theorizes that an AI would be able to control the magnetic fields that would allow the aircraft to fly, and thinks that an aircraft would even be able to leave Earth's atmosphere.

2326 BPC: A prototype ship using the new electromagnetic technology leaves Earth's atmosphere and goes beyond expectations by successfully landing on the moon. Possibilities of colonization are put on the table.

2327 BPC: Scientists re-discover the plans of the failed colony ships, and immediately petition the UTG for ship building materials. The requisition is denied on the grounds that the colonization ships would require the use of fuel sources that no longer exist.

2329 BPC: Scientists and engineers return to the UTG with modified plans of the colonization ships. Instead of a chemical fuel to propel the ships through space, the newly designed ships would use a combination of fuel cells and nuclear reactors to propel the ships through space. The only downside is that the ships will have to be constructed in space. The UTG argues back and forth on the matter for almost a year; opponents citing the taxing amount of resources that would be required to build such a ship, and proponents citing the possibility of colonization and access to more resources, which would relieve an already resource ravaged Earth of much stress. Eventually the project is given a green light and a bounty is put out for any ship building material.

2332 BPC: Construction on the colonization ship begins. As the ship is built scientists, geologists, and AIs examine whatever reports they can find from previous space agencies and find that Mars would be the best place for a mining and agricultural colony; based on reports that various metals were found by probes, and that any plant life would have enough sunlight to grow inside of greenhouses.

2342 BPC: The colonization ship is complete and is named "Giant Leap" citing Neil Armstrong's famous words as he first set foot on Earth's moon. The Giant Leap begins its journey to Mars. Once there the colony is quickly built, and mining and farming operations begin in earnest. With the first shipments of ore being sent to Earth within the first six months, food is shipped almost a year later.

2345 PC (planetary colonization): Two more colonization ships are built, with one being sent to the other side of Mars and the other being sent to Mars' southern pole.

2347 PC: Alien ruins are discovered on Mars' southern pole, the UTG is immediately notified and research teams are sent to examine the ruins. The news of alien ruins has the UTG in a riot with there being more questions than answers. The council of generals advise that a military buildup would be a wise course of action in the event that the owners of the ruins were hostile. The motion is passed, and UTG's military forces almost double in size, but are still relatively small when compared to the military sizes of the past. Military research and development also receives more funding. Eventually researchers discover a cache of information that causes humanity's technology to leap forward by almost a hundred years. The most notable part of the information is the element that apparently has an atomic mass of zero.

2348 PC: The new element is discovered in some asteroids inside the Sol system's asteroid belt. A mining team is sent to retrieve some of the ore. Based on information from the ruins, scientists and find that the new element can be used for propulsion, but find that it is rare and highly restrictive when it comes to the size of the ship being built. Humanity integrates Mass effect technology into their ships, but prefer keeping and improving fuel cells and nuclear reactors to Mass effect technology. Later that year the Charon Relay is discovered, and activated. Construction begins on a fleet of colonization ships.

2350 PC: The Genesis sector is discovered near Terminus space, and several garden worlds are immediately colonized, but colonists are forced to wear rebreathers, due to the lack of radiation in the air.

2355 PC: The colony of Eve is razed by batarian slavers. One batarian ship is shot down and abandoned by the batarians. By the time UTG forces arrive, the batarians and most of the colonists are long gone. Few survivors are found. Cries of justice and vengeance echo throughout UTG space, and the UTG immediately begins militarization and arms all ships effectively turning them into warships. Admirals are now added to the council of generals with the head admiral being call "Grand Admiral". During the buildup, another ruin is found on an uninhabitable planet. The ruin appears to be a two kilometer long ship. Upon entering the ship it is found that what has been found is not a ship, but more like a drone capable of space flight. After a week of work inside the machine, mental changes are detected in workers and researchers, all of which are immediately rotated out and given new duties. The machine is disassembled, and its parts are sent to various labs throughout UTG space.

2358 PC: A part of the machine is discovered to be a magnetohydrodynamic cannon that shoots molten metal. This cannon is immediately slaved onto a three kilometer flagship. Armor similar to the metal found on the machine is created and replaces earlier armor on all warships.

2360 PC: Humanity begins its retaliation against the batarians.

Among a cell filled with people from various races, a turian sat in her corner of the cell and watched two batarian guards on a catwalk that ran down the middle of the large room with several cells full of captured people on either side of it, the cells were at the bottom of the room, and the only out, was via catwalk. The turian and several others like herself had been crammed inside a cell for several days and there had been nothing to do except watch the guards do their rounds, and pray that they would be rescued before they were sent to a slave market. She knew that they were on an established Batarian colony, and their chances of rescue were very low, but one could always hope. As she watched the guards, she heard a snippet of their conversation. "Yeah, I was there when we raided that colony. Those aliens never stood a chance, they didn't even have a decent militia to stop us." Said one of the guards.

"Did they fetch a good price?" Asked his partner, the first guard only laughed.

"Nah, those things are almost as weak as quarians. When we took off their masks, they died within a week, not to mention the air in their masks was radioactive. They're more trouble than they're worth." The turian processed the information that she had just heard, a quick glance around her cell told her that everyone else had heard the conversation as well. A new race had been discovered and had been introduced to the galactic community in the worst possible way, and it was very likely that the council didn't know about it. Any thoughts of pity for the new race was lost when the building they were in suddenly shook. A few seconds later alarms began to blare, as prisoners and guards looked up in confusion the intercom crackled. "All units to your posts! An unknown enemy fleet has engaged the defense fleet, and- ARGH THOSE COWARDS! Update: the defense fleet has fled, and the hostiles are landing troops on the planet. Do not let them set foot in these bases, if they do I'll kill anyone who is left alive! Guards, secure the slave pens, and prepare for termination protocol." Everyone looked up as they heard the guards' weapons unfold and the door to their holding pen lock. Shortly after that, the building shook again and the lights went out and were replaced by dim emergency lights. For what felt like hours to everyone in the room, there was nothing but a tense silence, then the building was once again shaken, but this time an impossibly loud snapping noise followed it. Then they heard it, the sound of gunfire. The turians in the room recognized the chattering of the batarians' weapons, but they also heard what sounded like a mattock rifle. As the minutes passed the sound of the fighting came ever closer. One look around told the turian that everyone knew they were going to be rescued, but those hopes were quickly dashed when the intercom crackled to life again, "Attention all guards, begin termination protocol and prepare to abandon the base." The turian watched in horror as the guards pulled grenades from their belts and began dropping them in the cells, there were many cries of surprise and terror; most of which were silenced or replaced by screams of agony shortly after the bang. Bang…bang…bang…clang, the turian's eyes widened as she saw a grenade bounce off the floor of her cell and explode a mere second later, she felt the heat of the blast around the same time as the shrapnel, after her head cleared of the ringing, she found that she was still propped up against the corner of the cell. She wished she wasn't. Before her were the mangled bodies of all the people that had been in her cell. She didn't see any movement, or hear anything that suggested life, all she heard was the batarians talking. "Some of them are still alive, should we finish them off?"

"No, let them bleed. We've already wasted enough time." Came the reply. Looking up, the turian saw the guards heading towards the door, and growled. The bastards didn't even have the decency to finish them off. Just before the guards reached the door, there was a banging. The guards shouldered their rifles and slowly backed away from the door. The banging started again, and went on for several seconds, it was then replaced by single dull wump. The guards looked at each other in confusion. "What was that-" started one of the guards, but he was interrupted as the door was blown off its hinges and flew down the catwalk hitting one of the guards. The other guard stumbled back in surprise, before he was able to regain his balance, three of the mattock-like shots rang out, and the guard fell to floor with a hole in his head. As soon as the guard's body hit the floor four figures quickly entered the room. The turian heard one of them bark something out, but its voice sounded distorted; like when the quarians spoke, but scratchier. As the figures walked down the catwalk, the turian saw one of them poke its head over the railing, she could have sworn she heard its breath catch before it shouted something, there was a flurry of steps on the catwalk before her cell suddenly jerked upwards, causing her gasp in pain. Apparently her wounds were worse than she thought. When her cell reached the top it stopped with a jerk, causing the turian to gasp in pain once more when she looked up she finally saw her rescuers, and couldn't help but cringe a little in fear. Their heads were completely covered in a helmet with two horizontal aqua-colored slits for eyes. They appeared to be wearing open jackets of some sort, but she could hear the rustle of armor underneath. They also appeared to have packs of some sort on their backs. Overall the aliens preferred black to everything else. The turian's observations were interrupted when she heard a clanging rattle outside of her cell, and remembered that the batarians had used archaic chains and locks instead of modern locks; probably to increase the feeling of helplessness in the prisoners. As one of the aliens tried to pull the lock off, one the others pushed him out of the way and raised what she assumed was a rifle. From what little she could see, the rifle was black like everything else on the aliens, and looked like a mattock, but with considerable differences; for one thing the rifle was three fourths the size, and was sleeker than the clunky mattock. It also appeared to have some sort small barrel appendage built into the stock of the weapon. The alien struck the lock twice with no luck, but instead of giving up or shooting the lock, the alien reached for its lower back and surprised the turian by drawing out a short sword; the turian was further surprised when she saw the sword descend and heard the chain and lock fall to the ground. The doors were immediately opened a one of the aliens entered the cell looking checking the bodies, the turian couldn't stop the cough that came from her lungs, but thankfully the cough got the alien's attention, just in time too. She saw her vision burring and felt her eyelids drooping. "I must have lost some blood." Thought the turian, as she drifted off into darkness… almost. The turian was painfully brought back from the dark abyss, when she felt herself pulled forward and found herself draped over one of the alien's back piggy-back style and jostled as it began to run toward the exit of the room. She wanted to just close her eyes, but the bouncing kept causing her wounds to flare up, but it kept most of her senses clear. Looking to the side she saw another alien jogging along side with what she assumed was her carrier's weapon and pack, his armor the same light gray of the hallway. Wait gray? The turian couldn't help but be slightly confused at the small, yet major change in detail. The loss of blood must have affected her eyesight.

A few minutes later, the turian's eyes were assaulted by sunlight, and her lungs also assaulted by the stench of smoke and death. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light, all she saw was a field of death. Destroyed vehicles and batarian corpses littered the field around the base, which she now saw had several holes in it. She also saw one of the aliens hoist a tube onto its shoulder and point it something in the distance. When she looked, the turian saw a batarian shuttle flying away from the base; there was a shriek that made the turian grind her teeth and she saw the shuttle go up in flames; when she looked forward she saw that they were heading for a shuttle right before she lost consciousness.

She didn't know how long she was unconscious, but when she woke the turian's eyes were once again assaulted by bright light, but instead of the sun, this light was artificial, and a sterile white. The room she was in, was sparse with the only decoration being a small pedestal that reached up to the bed and a small table on the other side. A quick observation revealed that there were no restraints holding her down, and to her utter horror; she was practically naked. The only things covering the turian's body, were bandages that were wrapped around her torso and legs, a quick check told her that beyond removing her cloths, and wrapping her body in the bandages, nothing else had been done to her. She began thinking of getting out of bed and exploring, but a small flash of light drew her attention to the pedestal. On it was a hologram of some sort of bipedal creature; whatever it was, its anatomy was disturbingly similar to an asari with the exception of head crests. Beyond the general shape of its body, there weren't any distinguishable features on the hologram. "I see you're finally awake." Said the hologram in a soft but flanged voice. "I've alerted the doctor and he's on his way here to check up on you, is there anything that you need at the moment?" Now that the turian thought about it, she was rather thirsty.

"Some water would be nice." Rasped the turian. Her throat was so dry, and she hadn't used her voice much ever since she was captured.

"Your water will be here soon. Is there anything else that you would like?"

"Could you tell me where I am?"

"You are on the Terran Naval Ship Aegis. This cruiser and one other is currently on its way to the Citadel so that you may receive better medical treatment." The turian's eyes widened at the news. The Citadel? She suddenly had more questions that she wanted to ask.

"How do you know about the location of the Citadel?" The hologram did not answer immediately, but was silent for almost half a minute, when the turian was about ask again the it answered.

"My apologies, I was unsure if it was appropriate to answer your question, and I asked the captain for permission. To answer your question, the batarians attacked one of our colonies, during the raid we managed to shoot down one of their ships, and secured star charts as well as your Codex. Thus we immediately knew the location of every single world as well as the location of the Citadel."

"And you used that information to attack a batarian colony." Wispered the turian in horror. Did they not realize what they've done? Did they not know that the batarians wouldn't let this go and retake their colony as well as kill or enslave anyone on it?

"We did not use that information to attack a batarian colony; we used that information to take six batarian colonies." Corrected the hologram. The turian could've sworn her heart skipped a beat, apparently the hologram noticed.

"Are you alright? Your vitals just spiked."

"Six colonies? How could you have captured six colonies?"

"We were fighting pirates and slaver rabble, not turians or krogan. The doctor is almost here, is there anything else you'd like to ask?" The turian was about to say no, but then two questions popped into her mind.

"I have two questions. The first one; is that the general look of the species that built this ship? The second one; what kind of Virtual Intelligence are you?"

"To answer your first question, this is the shape but not the general appearance of humans, the species name, my brethren like to look like our human masters and compatriots, but I prefer not to waste my processing power on such vanity. And I am slightly insulted that you would compare me to one of those substandard programs you call , I am an A.I and am responsible for running most of this ship's systems." An A.I?! These humans had developed and integrated something that caused the exile of the quarians into their ships! The turian couldn't help but feel a little scared for a moment, but that fear was interrupted when the door opened. The creature that walked in was the first human she had seen. Well not the first human, but then again, she didn't exactly see what they looked like under the armor. The similarities between them and the asari were close enough to where it was on some level comforting, but still more than a little unnerving. The human in question around the same size as an asari but much bulkier, the turian could only assume that it was a male; its skin was the color of fertile soil, and seemed to have some sort of fur growing around its mouth.

"It is good to see that you are awake." Said the human in a deep voice that seemed to enunciate vowels. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine I guess. Though I am a little thirsty." Replied the turian.

"Ah yes, I forgot I brought some water with me." Said the doctor as he dug around his pockets, finally coming out with a sealed bag filled with clear liquid. "Suck on the straw right here." Said the doctor indicating to a tube attached to the bag. "Take a quick sip, and then I'll do a quick checkup for you." As the doctor did his checkup, the turian decided she to try and find out some more about the humans.

"So how long have humans had space capable technology?"

"Several hundred years according to the history books, but a good portion of that was back when we still used chemical rockets to propel shuttles; we couldn't get very far. The only things that got farther than our moon were probes that we sent to various gas giants in our system. But then it became too expensive to send anything out, and after that many bad things happened and we didn't leave our planet for more than a hundred years." The turian noticed that the doctor's tone had become quieter towards the end, and was about to ask about what happened during those hundred odd years, but she never got the chance. "Well, it looks like you're in good shape, but those bandages will have to be changed. I'll send a nurse to change them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to." The mention of patients immediately got the turian's attention.

"Wait!" Said the turian catching the doctor's attention. "How many others were rescued from the planet?" The doctor was about to answer, but the A.I beat answered first.

"Between the cruisers, there are currently three hundred eighty-four freed prisoners."

"Currently?"

"Every single prisoner that was brought aboard is being treated for various forms of malnutrition, dehydration, several maladies, and wounds sustained from batarian weapons. There were some who died shortly after they were brought on board, and despite our best efforts, we are not sure if some will survive before we arrive to the Citadel." The turian felt like she had just been hit by an asteroid. The prisoners that were with her, weren't the only ones who were harmed.

"How many prisoners were there overall?" Asked the turian in a cracked voice.

"I don't think that this is the appropriate time to-." Started the doctor.

"I need to know." There was a pause before the A.I answered.

"The count is still ongoing, but judging from the numbers the colony you were on it was most likely a slave colony and-"

"How many?" said the turian with a little bit of force.

"Currently the numbers are over ten-thousand."

"Prisoners."

"Deceased. The people on these two ships are the only survivors." The news that not everyone on the ship was going to survive the trip had been an utter shock, the news that she was one of the few survivors had rendered her utterly paralyzed, and it was several minutes before she heard the doctor's voice.

"Ma'am. Ma'am, I need you to tell me you name, so that we can tell the Citadel that you're alive."

"Solana." Whispered the turian. "Solana Vakarian."


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok so I made some slight changes to the first chapter, but the only one that will have any real effect on the story is that humanity no longer needs radioactive air to survive. I'm also looking for someone to beta this story, so if anyone knows a beta reader that would be willing to beta this story, just give me their name. Other than that... Merry Christmas. **

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><p>Ch.2<p>

Matriarch Lidanya was the captain of the Destiny Acension, the most powerful ship of the council races. There was nothing that could rival the dreadnought's firepower or size. It stood as a symbol of the Citadel council's authority as well as the asari's technological capabilities. Despite all this, being the captain of such a ship could sometimes be nothing more than curse. It wasn't that reports or the petty conflicts that she had to deal with; that was a part of any captain's job, the curse was the persistent boredom that she had to deal with day after day, and she had no doubt that it was going to remain that way until she retired. As Lidanya walked the bridge inspecting the bridge crew's productivity, a slight beep on the sensors caught her attention. "Captain, two unidentified ships have just entered the system and are heading towards the Citadel." Said the sensors officer

"Is the fleet aware of this?" Asked Lidanya heading over to her command position.

"They are, and are taking up defensive formations."

"Understood, helm lay in an intercept course. Coms, hail them, and order them to stop where they are." The helmsman and the communications officer both acknowledged the orders with a nod.

"Does anyone know when we'll get a visual?"

"We should be getting a visual shortly ma'am." Replied the sensors officer. As the Destiny Ascension glided through the nebula clouds, they came to a clear spot where the two ships had stopped. The general reaction of the bridge crew was that of surprise. The ships in question were unlike anything seen before. The main body was long and cylindrical and continued until slightly before the front where it began to slope inwards a little before plaining out and ending in a flat circular surface, while the rear section was made up of five cylinders that were stacked like an upside-down pyramid that was missing its peak. There was a hole in the middle of the front of the ships, which the Lidanya could only assume was a cannon of some sort, and there appeared to be various weapons emplacements along the sides of the ship's hull as well as missile ports. The hulls were painted crimson, with one blue streak on each side of it.

"By the Goddess, look at those monsters!"

"Those have to be dreadnaughts."

"Quiet! Back to your duties." Ordered Lidanya. She could feel the whole bridge crew's tension, how could she not? Two unknown ships had just entered citadel space! "Sensors, are there any unusual readings coming from those ships?"

"Yes ma'am. I am reading Eezo aboard those ships, but not enough that could possibly move them. I'm also detecting large amounts of radiation but I'm not sure what's causing it." Replied the Sensors officer.

Radiation? The only things that Lidanya could immediately think of that would give off radiation were nuclear weapons and generators, but one was outlawed by the council and the other was archaic. However before Lidanya could go any further with her thoughts, her communications officer called out.

"Captain, we're being hailed. Audio only."

"Let's hear it." Replied Lidanya.

"This is Captain Doreign of the Terran Naval Ship _Armon. _We have wounded slaves that were rescued aboard, and they need immediate medical attention. I'm requesting permission to continue further and send shuttles down with the wounded." Rescued slaves? Lidanya found it rather hard to believe, it sounded more like an excuse to get close to the Citadel. As the head of the Citadel defense fleet, she wasn't going to let two unknowns get any closer to the Citadel.

"Coms, open communication with the ship. This is Matriarch Lidanya of the Destiny Ascension. Your request is denied. You are an unknown and I won't risk the Citadel's safety on the chance that you're lying."

"Matriarch, you must let us through, there are people on here that are close to death, and we need to get them to a hospital quickly."

"There is no proof that your claim is true, you will not be allowed past this point." There was an audible sigh from the other end.

"What will it take to prove to you that I'm telling the truth?" Lidanya was quiet for minute, her mind quickly going through her options.

"Captain this is Matriarch Lidanya, I'll be sending two squads to each ship to verify your claim. One squad will check your medical facilities, the other will be on your bridge to ensure that you won't open fire. Do not take the soldiers I am sending over lightly, or you will regret it." There was a moment of pause before Captain Doreign answered.

"Very well captain, I will await your soldiers." As soon as the communications channel closed, Lidanya turned to her security chief.

"Prep four squads, and send them over to the ships."

Terana was giddy with excitement though she didn't show it in front of her squad. She had just been promoted to squad leader, and now she was being sent over to one of the alien ships to secure their bridge. As the shuttle they were riding in neared one of the ships, she looked out the window and couldn't but help be amazed. She had been told that the ships were large, but up close they were as large, if not slightly larger than a turian dreadnaught. As their shuttle entered a hangar, Terana noticed that the lighting was not a stark white like on other ships, but somewhat dim. Never the less, she still saw two individuals standing at attention. Her first impression of them was that they were almost like asari, but with several exceptions. Instead of blue, their skin had a light pink hue, and then there was the fur on their heads. No other species that she had seen had fur anywhere on their bodies. They were dressed in gray uniforms that had some golden trappings on the seams. As soon as they stepped off the shuttle and approached the two individuals Terana noticed that both of them had side arms strapped to their thighs. However before she could do anything, one of them spoke. "Greetings. I'm First Officer Mian and this is Lieutenant Gordon. We will be taking you to your assigned areas. Those going to the medical wards will follow Lieutenant Gordon. Those going to the bridge are with me." As they split up to go to their respective goals, Terana noticed that all of the crewmembers that they passed had side arms, and that the hallways were as dim as the hangar.

"Excuse me Officer Mian, I can't help but notice that the crew on this ship is heavily armed. And that you don't use much light." Said Terana.

"It's standard procedure for all crew members on board a naval ship be armed ma'am. As for the lighting, we mostly live underground and our homes aren't much brighter than this, and it also allows for power to be utilized elsewhere on the ship." Replied Officer Mian. If the entire crew was armed, then Terana and her squad would be in a difficult situation if the crew decided to attack them. Asari commandos were tough, but sheer numbers could defeat even the best commando. When they finally reached what she assumed was the bridge, Terana saw what she guessed to be two soldiers guarding the door. The soldiers were intimidating to say the least, and the dim light only created shadows that made them look spectral. Not willing to let a little intimidation keep her from her job, Terana got to work right away.

"These two will have to go." Said Terana. Officer Mian dismissed the two soldiers with a nod, and the two snapped the sides of their hands up to their foreheads before leaving, Terana could only assume it was a salute of some kind. After posting two of her own by the door, Terana and her squad entered the bridge. The bridge was just as dim as the rest of the ship and the only other light source came from the various monitors around the bridge. After stationing the rest of her squad around the bridge, Terana went to the chair in the center of the bridge where she assumed, the captain sat. Walking up to the captain she found that the captain looked more like their species version of an asari, Terana could only guess that the captain was a female. "Are you the captain of this Vessel?" Asked Terana. The captain nodded.

"I am Captain Joy Aronsvil of the _Aegis." _Replied the captain.

"I'm Sergeant Terana T'mala, and I'm here for the security of this bridge. Based off of what I've seen of the rest of your crew, I can safely assume that everyone on this bridge is armed. Correct?"

"You are."

"Then I will have to ask that you and the bridge crew remove and unload all your weapons." Every single crewman on the bridge turned from their work and looked to their captain for confirmation.

"Do it." Said the captain with a nod. Terana couldn't see their eyes very well but she knew that they were unhappy with the order. As they drew their weapons every asari slightly tensed, but soon relaxed when they saw that the crew, much to their surprise, started ejecting magazines from their weapons. "_Who would've thought that a space faring civilization would still use magazine fed weapons? Then again, every species has different technology." _ Thought Terana. She was getting ready to guard the bridge for however long it would take, but she immediately ran into a problem.

"What do you think you're doing?" The captain's voice cut through the relative silence that had fallen over the bridge. Terana looked to where the captain's voice was directed, and saw that one of her commandos had one of the crewman's pistol in her hand.

"I'm confiscating this weapon to send back to the Citadel to see if it breaks any weapons treaties." Said the commando.

"No you will not." Said the captain in a steely tone.

"Citadel law requires that all weapons must be inspected-"

"Humanity is not part of the Citadel, and therefore does not have to follow any of its laws. Now put the gun down."

"Ma'am-"

"Sergeant, what are your orders?" Asked the captain, ignoring the other commando.

"To secure the bridge of this ship until the other squad is done checking the medical wards." Replied Terana.

"And where in your orders, does it say to take weapons from this ship?" Terana saw where this was going.

"Nowhere." Admitted Terana. "Do as the captain says." Slight disbelief crossed the commando's face, but she complied with the order. Terana sincerely hoped this wasn't going to take too long.

The day had certainly been an interesting one for Councilor Tevos. It started out well enough, but that soon changed when the batarian ambassador requested an emergency meeting with the council. The batarian ambassador rarely met with the council, and most of the time it was to defend their "cultural heritage" of slave trading. Immediately after the start of the meeting, the batarian councilor shocked all three councilors with news that an unknown species had attacked six batarian colonies. After several hours of going over the few details that were avalible, Tevos' assistant entered the room informing the councilors with news that two unidentified ships had just entered the system, and had been halted by the Destiny Ascension. Almost an hour later they received news that there were wounded council citizens on board the ships.

Tevos watched as a stream of shuttles went back and forth between the Citadel and the two ships. This had been going on for the last hour and was finally starting to slow down, and as important as the lives of the wounded council citizens were, they were not the biggest thing on her mind. Tevos, along with Sparatus and Valern, were waiting to meet one of the captains of the alien ships. None of them knew what was going to happen, but they would find out soon enough. "C-Sec just reported in, one of the ship's captains and his guards just entered the elevator to the council chambers." Said Sparatus, closing his Omni-tool.

"What do we know about these…_ humans?"_ Asked Valern, testing the new word out.

"Very little, but the reports from the commando teams indicate a very sturdy military structure, and their captains are very rigid when it comes to agreements. Apparently one of the commandos tried to confiscate a weapon and cited Citadel law as her reason. The captain of the vessel was not happy about it, and grilled the officer in charge about her orders." Replied Sparatus.

"Were they still able to obtain the weapon?"

"No."

"Hm, shame. But it will not matter once they've entered into the Citadel." Before the two councilors could go on Tevos' Omni-tool beeped with a message. Giving the message a quick glance Tevos quickly closed her Omni-tool, and drew Sparatus' and Valern's attention.

"The captain and his escort just arrived." Said Tevos. The councilors patiently waited as they heard the advance of the captain's group in the mostly empty chambers. Upon hearing that the captain requested an audience with the councilors, the council chambers had been emptied save for a small force of C-Sec. The sound of the human's approach was interesting; Tevos could hear three separate sets of footsteps, yet they were in sync and sounded like one person's steps. When the small group crested the steps, the council got its first view of humanity. The soldiers were just as the commandos described them; their heads were completely encased in a helmet, with two eerie aqua colored slits staring at them. Their torsos were mostly covered in loose jackets, but their armor could be seen in the opening. Their armor looked to be made of relatively light plates with small gaps to allow for movement; it appeared that the armor on their legs was the same as well. Their weapons; slightly shorter and sleeker versions of the mattock with what may have been a type of barrel magazine in the middle of the stock. One thing that differed from the report was their armor color. The reports indicated that their armor was black, yet the color of their armor was similar to the warm lighting of the council chambers. The captain was dressed in a grey uniform with gold trim on the seams, and wore some kind of article of clothing on his head that was the same color as his uniform, but it had a shiny black bill and a symbol on the front-center of the article; he was also wearing an oxygen mask of some sort, that appeared to have two small tubes on each side running over his shoulders and behind his back. As soon as the trio of humans reached the catwalk, the two guards immediately stepped to the side, with one guard turning one-hundred eighty degrees to face the way they came, while the other faced the council. The captain however, continued on until he was before the council. "Welcome to the Citadel." Greeted Tevos. "I am councilor Tevos, these are councilors Sparatus, and Valern."

"I am Captain Fredrick Doreign of the TNS (Terran Naval Ship) _Armon_."

"If I may ask captain, why are you wearing an oxygen mask? Is there something wrong with the Citadel's air?" Inquired Valern.

"The oxygen humanity's home planet, Earth, is irradiated and our lungs have come to depend on the radiation to survive. Now, while breathing non-irradiated air isn't immediately lethal, we have found that it will eventually cause asphyxiation. Beyond that, I do not know more." Replied the captain. "Now as to why I am here."

"Yes, but let me be the first to thank you for bringing our people back. It is good to know that they will be reunited with their families." Said Sparatus. "Though we apologize for Captain Lidanya for keeping you from bringing our people back. Please understand that the Citadel is the center of our politics and trade, and that she was only doing her duty in keeping it safe."

"I understand councilor, we would have done the same if one of your ships appeared over one our planets." Replied Captain Doreign.

"Speaking of planets." Said Valern, catching everyone's attention. "We have received startling news from one of our member species, the batarians. We've been told that an unknown force attacked six of their colonies, did you have anything to do with that?"

"Yes, we were the ones who attacked those planets." Said the Captain Doreign. The captain's confirmation verified what they could only speculate, the humans had successfully launched an attack against six batarian worlds; two of which had been confirmed to be heavily fortified military strongholds.

"Captain we would like to know why you attacked six council member colonies, and we also ask that your forces leave those colonies immediately." Said Tevos. There was a small, but pregnant silence, before Captain Doreign spoke.

"Five years ago, one of our colonies was attacked by batarian slavers. Most of the colonists were taken, while a majority of the rest were killed. We managed to shoot one of their ships down, and learned all about the batarians and the rest of the currently known species as well as planet locations."

"Five years? This happened five years ago?" Exclaimed Sparatus. "Why didn't you come to us? We could've negotiated with the batarians for the release of your people."

"Councilors I cannot answer that nor is it my duty to answer that. The reason I am here, is because I received a message from my government; they wish to send an ambassador to the Citadel, and establish good relations with the council. My government should also be sending you a data package with information about humanity within the day."

"When will your ambassador come?" Asked Valern.

"Whenever you are ready to receive him."

"Very well, is there anything else captain?" Said Tevos.

"Yes. Humanity does not have any diplomatic vessels, so the ambassador will most likely be arriving on one of our flagships, and will be accompanied by two of our warships. It would be preferable that there are no time consuming ship checks when the ambassador arrives." The three councilors could hear the slightly annoyed tone in the captain's voice. "If you will allow me to councilors, I will take my leave."

"You may leave captain, and thank you again for bringing our people home." Said Tevos. Captain Doreign gave the councilors a slight bow before leaving, his guards following him, their footsteps synchronized with his own. Councilor Tevos watched until the captain and his guards entered the elevator and the door closed, before turning to Sparatus and Valern. "I'd suggest that you two clear your schedules for the day, it appears we have a lot to go over."

"Indeed." Said Valern, opening up his Omni-tool. "It appears that we have also received more information on the attacks on the batarian colonies." This immediately got Tevos and Sparatus' attention.

"When did you get this?" Demanded Sparatus.

"Just now. It would be best if we reviewed this somewhere secure." When the three councilors were seated in their private board room, Valern began sending data from his Omni-tool to the large screen in front of the room. "Most of the data received was extracted from monitored communications, but one of our spy satellites that was orbiting one of the batarian's more fortified worlds recorded much of what happened there." The recording showed the dark side of a planet with various city lights shining on its surface, as the satellite moved in orbit, the sun crested the side of the planet to reveal a fleet of batarian ships lazily orbiting the planet. Suddenly, there were flashes of light and several human ships appeared almost in the middle of the fleet, less than a second later, turrets that were placed along the hulls of the human ships opened fire on the batarian ships. Thousands of individual yellow streaks raced across the short distance before slamming into the batarian ships, destroying almost a third of them before the rest of the fleet could get their barriers up. It was then that things started to get messy; several batarian ships broke orbit and began to flee from the battle, but before they could get very far, three human ships turned in their direction. There was a flash from the front of one of the human ships. The councilors saw a blue streak fly towards one of the batarian ships, there was a small explosion at the impact site before the councilors saw the projectile exit the ship and fly off into space. The two other human ships followed suit and continued to fire on the fleeing batarians until nothing but wreckage remained of the fleeing ships. The three human ships then turned back toward the rest of the human fleet, which was staying mercilessly close to the batarian ships, which were trying to put enough distance between them and the human ships in order to use their weapons at a safe distance. They never got the chance; a few minutes later, the batarian ships were nothing more than debris or lifeless hulls floating in space. Tevos looked at Sparatus, of the three councilors, he was the one who had the most military knowledge. Sparatus' eyes were wide with shock and amazement. The power that humans' ships had displayed could only be found in dreadnaughts and cruisers, and their merciless tactics could only be compared to the ruthlessness of the krogran. "Spirits." Muttered Sparatus, "The batarians didn't stand a chance." Suddenly, Tevos saw small blips of light clustered on the planet surface.

"Did either of you two see-" Started Tevos, but she was interrupted when she saw several yellow streaks fly up from the planet and explode against some of the human ships. The blasts must have been powerful, because Tevos saw that the ships that were hit actually rocked upwards, as the ships moved through, Tevos saw no evidence that the ships had been hit, other than that they were now in a slightly higher position than before. The fact that a human ship came out of that unscathed, was an amazing if not slightly frightening for the three councilors. What came next caused all three counselors' jaws to hang open in shock. A ship of titanic proportions entered the screen. The ship was so large that it cast a shadow over a few of the other ships. As the councilors watched, they saw what looked like red electricity spark in front of the ship, then much to their surprise, a red beam flew out of the ship towards the place where Tevos had seen the blips of light. There was a brief flash of light on the surface, and then there was calm.

"Valern, is there any audio?" Asked Sparatus.

"One moment." Answered Valern, as he worked on his Omni-tool. There was static, then the audio speakers were filled various voices, all calling out reports and confirmations, after a small period of time, the voices died down and another voice spoke.

"_This is Grand Admiral Hackett to all ships. Begin bombardment of the surface." _As soon as the order was given, hundreds of missiles were seen coming from missile ports on the sides of the ships. The missiles streaked down to the planet's surface leaving white trails of smoke. After a while the councilors could no longer see the missiles, but they saw the explosions. Yellow dots appeared where Tevos had seen the cities earlier; wherever there was an explosion, the lights surrounding it winked out.

"Spirits what are were the humans using?" Whispered Sparatus.

"Sensors from the surface were able to record large amounts of radiation; before the explosion or what may possibly be some sort of EMP destroyed them." Said valern, reading off his Omni-tool.

"Don't tell me that they used…"

"It appears they did. The radiation levels are consistent with that of high yield nuclear weapons."

"Could anyone have possibly survived?" Asked Tevos, not trying to keep the horror out of her voice.

"Doubtful, if anyone survived the explosion or shockwave, then they would die of radiation poisoning. Judging from this recording, I doubt the humans meant for anyone on the planet to survive this." Replied Valern. The room suddenly felt much colder at this revelation. What they had just witnessed wasn't an attack; it was a cleansing!

"H-how many dead?" Said Sparatus.

"Since the hegemony doesn't reveal information on its population, it can only be guessed. However judging from the cities seen before the deployment of the nuclear weapons, I'd say the deaths are in the millions; and that's not counting the slaves." Tevos and Sparatus suddenly found it extremely hard to breath. They had completely forgotten about the slaves that would most definitely have been on the planet surface. Both felt anger suddenly well up inside them, there was no telling how many of their own died on this planet or the other five others because of the humans. They were not going to let this stand.

"Valern, send all the information you received to the hierarchy, as well as the asari. I'm going to contact Palaven Command, and request an immediate increase in our fleet's size; Tevos I'd recommend you do the same." Normally, Tevos would argue for negotiation first, but after seeing the humans commit mass genocide, it was clear that a show of strength would be needed to bring the humans to heel, and under the control of the council.

"I will see to it myself that the Council of Matriarchs have this passed." Replied Tevos. "Valern, is there anything else you can tell us from the report?"

"Yes, and because of this, I'd recommend that your governments concentrate on building dreadnaughts above all other ships." Said Valern, pulling up several still images human ships. "The satellite was able to approximate the lengths of the ships in these images. The ships range from five-hundred meters to… two-kilometers." Valern looked at his fellow councilors to find that their faces displayed nothing but shock; he too had been shocked at the sizes, but there was little that the saliarians could do about it, their best weapon was knowledge, not dreadnaughts.

"Two-kilometers?" Said Tevos, looking like she had just been hit. Valern couldn't blame the councilor for being shocked, up until now, the asari were the only ones who were able to build a ship of that size. As he scanned the report and felt his eyes widen at one part. As much as he hated reveal more bad news, this was one piece of information that couldn't be ignored. "I'm afraid it only gets worse."

"How could it possibly be any worse?" Snapped Sparatus. Valern went back through the video and stopped at the image of the ship that fired the red beam.

"Even though we don't have a complete image of this ship, our were able create a comparable ratio between the two-kilometer dreadnaughts and this ship, under the assumption that the designs were the same." Tevos felt dread enter her stomach as she realized what Valern was saying.

"You mean that…" Started Tevos.

"This ship is larger. And is estimated to be around three-kilometers in length." Finished Valern. For a long while there was silence as the three councilors tried to process the information that they had gone through in mere minutes; A new species had popped up out of nowhere and attacked six planets, only for it to be revealed that they were not new, but had been discovered and attacked by the batarians five years prior, and now they were waging an utterly merciless campaign of vengeance against the batarians, and had so far killed millions. Yet, they had rescued and even brought some of their people back to the Citadel. This last part clung in Tevos' mind, and she realized with a bit of guilt that she had rendered judgment against humanity solely based on what the satellite footage showed.

"While what we've seen is certainly distressing," Slowly started Tevos, catching Valern and Sparatus' attention. "I do not believe that this is a total representation of the humans."

"I agree, but the facts remain that even though they are not yet part of the Citadel; they've already broken several laws and treaties, as well as attacked a member of the Citadel. And as much as we do not like the batarians, we can cannot ignore these attacks." Said Sparatus.

"No we cannot," Agreed Tevos. "But ensuring that the humans will join the Citadel is our top priority."

"Why do you say that Tevos? You make it sound like the humans won't join the Citadel." Said Valern.

Tevos could only look at Valern incredulously. Surely he saw what she noticed.

"Valern, look at their ships! If they are able to build ships that size, then they have the resources and the means to build such ships, not to mention the economy to fund their construction. And they successfully attacked six planets; which means that they have a strong military. The humans are not some new species just now traveling among the stars that need our protection. There is very little we can offer that they probably don't already have. They don't need us."

"Then what do we have that could convince them to join us." Asked Valern. Tevos dreaded the answer she had to give, but she saw no other options.

"A seat on the council is best we have."

"A council seat?!" Exclaimed Sparatus. "Tevos, do you realize how desperate and weak that would make us look? Not to mention that they haven't done anything to earn one!"

"Yes it would make us look desperate, but it would make the council stronger as a result." Said Valern. "With the humans on the council, their technology and military will become available, and they will also add to the Citadel economy. And as a member of the council, they would be bound by council laws, which would," Valern gestured towards the paused video. "keep them from doing something like this again."

"Even so," Sighed Sparatus. "It would still be best to strengthen our fleets. As well as nominating a few more Spectres." To this, Valern and Tevos nodded in agreement.

"Let's adjourn for now and reconvene when we've received the humans' data package." Said Tevos. "We should invite the human ambassador to the Citadel in no less than two weeks. And in two days we should also do a press release, I have no doubt that word has already begun circulating about the humans and the attacks. Are we in agreement?" Sparatus and Valern nodded their assent. "Good, this meeting is adjourned."

**A/N: To clear up any confusion on the appearance of human ships, just take eight soda cans and stack them until you get something similar to what's described in the text above.**

**Terran Naval Ships: Most ships in the Terran navy consist of the same design and are armed similarly, with a few exceptions. Ship sizes are as follows:**

**Frigates and destroyers: 500 meters.**

**Cruisers: 1 km.**

**Dreadnaughts: 2 km.**

**Flagships: 3 km. **

**All ships are armed with a Mass Accelerator Cannon that runs three quarters of the ship's length. The cannon can fire two types of accelerator rounds. One round is spear-like in nature, and is used for piercing ship hulls, often causing an explosion due to the force and speed of its impact; while the other is a bullet-like slug that is used to destroy the overall structural integrety, or for heavy orbital strikes. All ships have smaller anti-ship cannons placed along their hulls that fire similar ammunition, as well anti-aircraft turrets that fire slugs similar to those found in the old world.**


End file.
